Metro Vancouver bridge tolls to be lifted Sept. 1

Premier John Horgan has acted on another of his key election promises, announcing that tolls will be lifted from the Port Mann and Golden Ears bridges effective Sept. 1.

“These tolls in my opinion are unfair,” said Horgan, who estimated that a regular commuter would pay up to $1,500 a year.

Horgan introduced Surrey and Maple Ridge-area MLAs who knocked off B.C. Liberal incumbents with the help of the popular promise, giving the NDP enough seats to form a government supported by three B.C. Green Party MLAs on Vancouver Island.

During the May election campaign, Horgan and the NDP enjoyed support for the promise to remove tolls, which are applied to some commuters but not others. The B.C. Liberals countered that the NDP would transfer the debt obligation to the entire province, and promised to put a cap on annual tolls to protect commuters.